Mourinho has faith in Man United forward Martial

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho backed Anthony Martial to deliver at Old Trafford this season.

Martial was absent from United's starting XI last week but the French forward came off the bench to help Mourinho's men to a 4-0 win over West Ham in their Premier League opener.

The 21-year-old's future in Manchester has been questioned amid United's pursuit of a winger but Mourinho believes the former Monaco star will shine in 2017-18.

"I have faith in him," Mourinho said ahead of Saturday's trip to Swansea City. "Probably, the player I was looking at [in the transfer market] was not a pure winger, because I have pure wingers.

"The player I was looking for would allow me to play three at the back and do the wing-backs. As a pure attacking player, Martial is a good player.

"He is one of the players who will have a better season than last season. I look at my players and I am sure some will be better than they were last season, and Anthony is one of those, for sure."

Mourinho anticipates improvement from all of his younger players, adding: "They're all young. [Henrikh Mkhitaryan] Micki and [Juan] Mata are close to their 30s. Romelu [Lukaku] is 24, [Jesse] Lingard and [Marcus] Rashford are a good age and they're all playing. They are also national team players with the chance to play international games.

"We are in the Champions League, so it is the first time for Rashford to play Champions League. Anthony had a bit with Monaco, Lingard had a few matches but not more than that. For Romelu, it is the first time. For them, the Champions league can be a great experience with their development."

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